140 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
evidence of having been subjected to heat, and in the in¬ 
soluble part, there were some small white lumps of fused 
substances which seemed to indicate that a little silicate 
of lime or soda, had been added. An analysis of this ma¬ 
nure has been made for the company by some chemists 
at Liverpool, and their report is quite favorable. They 
especially mention the favorable effects to be expected 
from the soluble silicates; now it happens that there are 
no soluble silicates. They probably obtained silica by fu¬ 
sing the insoluble portion, but that silica existing as sili¬ 
cate of lime in the manure, was not in a state to be im¬ 
mediately taken up by plants. Without in the least de¬ 
gree impugning the skill of these gentlemen as chemists, 
it may be doubted whether they have any knowledge of 
agricultural chemistry. The science often suffers in this 
way from the assertions of those who have not sufficient¬ 
ly studied its laws. There can be no doubt that artificial 
manures may be made equal to the natural; and when the 
farmer learns to guard himself by the light of well di¬ 
rected science, the dealer will be forced into honesty. 
I have spoken above of the silicate of lime. This is a 
combination of silica (or quartz,) with lime. It is in 
some rocks present in large quantity, and slowly decom¬ 
posing, furnishes a constant, though not abundant supply 
of both silica and lime. Prof. Johnston in his Lectures, 
p. 608, speaks of the first slag which is obtained at the 
iron smelting furnaces; it consists almost entirely of sili¬ 
cate of lime. He recommends that this be broken up and 
spread over the soil where lime is scarce. In a peaty or 
boggy soil, where vegetable acids abound, it would de¬ 
compose more speedily. 
As I am upon the subject of manures, I may give the 
analysis of a guano from a new locality, Saldanha Bay, 
within the British possessions at the Cape of Good Hope. 
It contains 
Water,. 3.92 per ct. 
Organic matter and ammoniacal salts....... 24.70 
Common salt and sulphate and phosphate of 
soda and potash,. 8.77 
Phosphates of lime and magnesia,. 61 15 
Insoluble siliceous matters,. 1.27 
99.81 
This guano is light in color and dry, like the Peruvian, 
but differs greatly both from that and the Ichaboe, in its 
composition. The quantity ot ammonia is small, but 
there is a very large proportion of phosphates. Its ac¬ 
tion would not be so immediately perceptible as that of 
the other kinds, but might be expected to continue long¬ 
er. It is said to cover 7 or 8 acres of ground, to the 
depth of several yards. The papers state that vessels of 
all nations are permitted to load there after obtaining a 
license at the Cape. Yours, &c. John P. Norton. 
Limw nu. w r vrenj. Pi - .71 li u cw ,irn mw "c-ypr—vru.■-~ ~ , 
Domestic Correspondence. 
ITEMS OF AGRICULTURAL SURGERY. 
1. Dyspepsia in a rooster. —Some years past I ob¬ 
served my children playing with a large rooster, that 
with other poultry had been removed from the country 
to the city, and became a pampered animal, like many 
other bipeds who take little exercise, feed high, and live 
without work. Upon approaching the group of children 
who had possession of the bird, it was discovered that he 
could not stand although his crop was full. On attempt¬ 
ing to place him on his feet, he repeatedly fell forward 
with the weight of his crop, which was distended and 
hard from the amount of its contents. Presuming that 
his stomach wanted relief from indigestion, and not know¬ 
ing how an emetic would work, I took a sharp knife, cut 
a hole in the crop and emptied it of its contents. It was 
then washed out with clean water, and the incision sew¬ 
ed up. The fowl being placed upon its feet, immediate¬ 
ly flapped its wings and walked away. The materials 
removed from the crop measured a quart or more, con¬ 
sisting of whole grains of Indian corn, oats and water 
melon seeds, which, from the commencement of putre¬ 
factive fermentation, smelled very offensive. This state 
of the crop caused me to wash it out clean before sowing 
it up. 
j 2. A cow saved— On the 2d of March 1842, I was 
called up early in the morning by one of my men, who 
stated that we were about to lose a cow. On repairing 
to the barn, and the enclosure where the animal was con¬ 
fined, a three years old heifer, appeared io be in the ag¬ 
onies of death, from her efforts to expel her first calf, 
which presented breech foremost. She lay on her side 
' with her feet extended as if exhausted with the exertions 
of the preceding night. She raised her head, and gave 
| such a look as I never before saw in a dumb beast. It 
'Was expressive, penetrating and imploring, and I inter- 
| preted it into the words, “ do help me.” What’s to be done ? 
|said my man. Why help her to be sure. The cow had 
I evidently been struggling all night, and nothing but the 
! tail of the calf had yet appeared. How will you pro¬ 
ceed, said the assistant. Thus, was the reply. Do you 
take hold of the tail, and I will endeavor to get one or 
both hands between the thigh and body of the calf, and 
when the cow makes an effort, we must draw gently 
downwards. The animal was so much exhausted that her 
j pains were feeble, and at long intervals, but by patience 
and perseverance, we succeeded after two hours attention, 
in relieving the cow, but the calf was strangled by re¬ 
maining so long in the birth. The poor creature was 
now prostrate and overcome, and there were no after- 
'pains to expel the secundines. After waiting a reasona¬ 
ble time to give her rest, and seeing no prospect of their 
expulsion, I introduced the hand and extracted them. 
In the course of the day we found that the animal could 
not stand or use her legs, and lest they should become 
stiff as she lay, we trussed her up by means of an old 
sacking-bottom under her body as oxen are trussed up 
when being shod. Her feet were left touching the ground 
but she did not use them until the fifth of March, three 
days after her delivery. The unusual presentation in 
this case, weakened the loins of the cow, and altered her 
walk, from which she gradually recovered. I still pos¬ 
sess the creature, and she has since had a living calf. 
I I have been informed of a similar case which occurred 
on another farm, in which the owner fixed an iron hook 
between the body and thigh of the calf, then tied a rope 
to the end of it, and three men by main force pulling 
upon it, delivered the animal, but killed both cow and 
calf. This occurrence, which was known to my assist¬ 
ant, caused him to think at first that my cow was also to 
be sacrificed. 
3. Prolapsus ani, or coming down of the intes¬ 
tine in hogs. —In the month of January 1844, my assis¬ 
tant in the case of the cow, informed me that we should 
lose two of our best store hogs, out of a litter of eight, 
being three quarter Berkshire shoats, between four and 
five months old. The intestine in both cases had descen¬ 
ded and bulged out of the body as large as a man’s fist. 
They were immediately removed to a small out building 
where they could be shut up and kept warm by them¬ 
selves. The first operation was to hold up their hind 
feet, and wash with warm water the protruded intestine, 
and then to grease it with warm tallow. A man contin¬ 
uing to hold the animal by its hind feet with the head 
down, my two thumbs were gently pressed upon the gut 
until it began to yield, and in two or three minutes it was 
returned into the body. The creature struggled and 
strained so hard that it came down again several times, 
and was as often returned in the same manner, sometimes 
requiring an additional thumb or finger of a third person 
to overcome the resistance caused by the straining of the 
hog. External pressure was then made with a roll of rags, 
confined to the part by a bandage around its body and 
between its legs. It was then shut up in the dark and 
supplied with clean dry straw to lie upon. This process 
was applied to both. 
On looking in upon the patients two hours after, they 
informed me, that the pledget and bandages were uncom¬ 
fortable, and that they had taken the liberty of rubbing 
against the building, and had got them off. I could not 
scold at the unruly animals whose sensibilities are about 
as acute as the thickness of their skins. So as the intes¬ 
tines had come down again, I called my assistants, and 
tieing together the hind feet of the young porkers, we se¬ 
cured them to the side of the building in an elevated po¬ 
sition, so that they could touch the ground with the fore 
